Media Roll Call

The right media can make or break a job. Period. Knowing this, many print providers will stick with a stable of tried-and-true solutions – media that have been tested and output successfully on their machines.

Other shops, however, are ready, willing, and unafraid to explore new media worlds and, like the explorers of long ago, search for something different, perhaps something exotic and unexpected.

No matter which “media camp” you fall into – or perhaps you're somewhere in-between the safe and the wildly experimental – you'll soon find that the media choices available can boggle the mind. Variables can include composition, surface treatment/texture, color, whiteness/brightness, ink compatibility, post-printing compatibility, width, and much more.

This month’s Media Sourcelist can help you plot your media course. It includes media manufacturers and private-label distributors of wide-format paper, film, vinyl, plastics, and self-adhesives. We’re provided a thumbnail description of each company’s offerings, but for more detailed information we urge you to visit the company’s website.

Note that we have listed only primary producers, manufacturers, converters, and private-brand sellers of media for wide-format graphics. We’ve not listed companies if they’re only selling or distributing another company’s products (unless it’s an exclusive arrangement).

Arlon www.arlon.com
A variety of cast films, calendered films, window films, banner material, interior products, wall-wrap films, and more. Its DPF 207 is a 6-mil matte white vinyl film with a clear removable pressure-sensitive adhesive designed to bond well and be removable to substrates such as smooth painted non-vinyl walls.